


Filiation

by Jason_M_Lee



Series: Nibbles-verse [19]
Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Adoption, Aunt-Nephew Relationship, Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Interspecies Awkwardness, Interspecies Relationship(s), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Uncle Dante (Devil May Cry), Uncle-Nephew Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-14
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-05-07 13:59:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19210858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jason_M_Lee/pseuds/Jason_M_Lee
Summary: Artificial devil or not, Trish would stay mystified of the Human World while learning to live in it.Separate re-post.





	Filiation

**Author's Note:**

> _Devil May Cry_ © Capcom

Trish stared at her water bottle, thoughts still whirling at the same speed of the motorcycle she had ridden during her first time in the Human World.  
  
(Alright, it was ridiculously brief, but she was still able to get that hint of a thrill, that feeling that no doubt caused some humans to cheer as some rode about recklessly. Maybe if she could convince them...)  
  
Shrieks had her glancing up in mild alarm, but she calmed down when she was able to decipher that the shrieks from the sandbox were that of childish delight from going down the slide, not of pain. Relaxing, the electric she-devil leaned back into the park bench. The minor relief didn't stop her from rubbing the bridge of her nose at her earlier thoughts.  
  
Over three years, and still counting.  
  
-3-1-2-4-5-  
  
_"Say again?!"_  
  
_Those with sensitive hearing in the room winced, Nero clapping his hands over his ears at the thunderous question from Lady. Slight whimpers from upstairs and the baby monitor had everyone freezing for several moments before they relaxed when no crying sounded out from the nursery._  
  
_Dante held up his hands in a placating manner. "C'mon, Lady. Sure, she might've tried to kill me-"_  
  
_"You got electrocuted, had a motorcycle thrown at you which exploded after you shot it to pieces, practically set the shop on fire, AND got stabbed by Force Edge before it awakened!" Lady hissed, now minding the volume of her voice. Her fingers were twitching as if wanting to grab a gun, but not being able to now that her newborn nestling was sleeping peacefully again. (And obviously not wanting to waste bullets, as Trish knew that Lady didn't have Dante's ability of generating endless ammunition.)_  
  
_"-pretty much betrayed me-"_  
  
_"Electrocuted you AGAIN just as you were about to kick that ass of a 'shadow-ice blob monster' while near the fringes of the Demon World!"_  
  
_"-but she did help me send Mundus packing."_  
  
_If looks could kill, Lady's eyes would've set things on fire as she bounced her gaze between the blonde and half-devil._  
  
_From the sofa, Trish wondered if this was how most devils felt when in the presence of more powerful ones, her own short experience aside. The amount of killing intent being put out by the lone human in the living room was probably enough to give even the weakest of devils some pause, and was causing her instincts to insist on immediately leaving through the windows. A quick side-glance to her left showed Nero was all but shrinking into the cushions._  
  
_"Don't even think of running," the other half-devil in the room murmured into her right ear._  
  
_Being the lone person who specialized in medicine, Trish opted to listen to Sláine's words, even though she barely heard what sounded like a bit of fear in Sláine's voice. (It had been an utter shock to her upon learning that Sláine, also a half-devil like Dante, preferred healing - healing! - to some of the more physical and violent-based activities. Lady had taken great pleasure at the blonde's surprise upon finding out.)_  
  
_"Lady..." Dante sighed through his nose, running a hand through his hair before resting his hands on her shoulders. "I owe her. **We** owe her."_  
  
_Trish forced herself to turn her head away when Dante placed his forehead onto Lady's, trying to give them some sense of privacy even though there was an audience. Where Sláine was also pretending to be as if fascinated with a fraying map pinned to one of the walls, Nero was making strange faces and rolling his eyes. The sheer tenderness Dante was showing to his mate -_ 'Spouse, damn it, Trish. You're in the Human World.' _\- was utterly foreign to her, more accustomed to displays of forced dominance. Tenderness was rare in the Demon World, except between some types and their offspring. The reaction the young quarter-devil was making, on the other hand, was rather amusing to her, although she got the sense that Nero saw the pair do it far more often than he'd prefer._  
  
_She wasn't sure what was Dante planning exactly. By demon laws and traditions, she could've turned into a Devil Arm or swear fealty to Dante, given that she technically owed him her life, and that debt she really didn't want constantly reminding her. After they had left Spain and arrived back in Dante's home country, the hunter had had a discussion with Sláine at the airport, someone he had introduced to her as an old friend, and both men had agreed that she should stay at the clinic temporarily._  
  
_The primary reason of Dante needing some time to recuperate mentally, she could understand - betrayal was never fun, especially when it involved one's life as well the image of someone close. The secondary reason about "quarantine" and the sheer load of paperwork she had seen Sláine work through wasn't as comprehensible - his dry remarks of it being a form of Hell didn't help ease her confusion, and she doubt she carried any form of illnesses, but she decided to humor him. It wasn't like she'd be welcome back in the Demon World, what with siding with the remaining son of the traitor._  
  
_Other than the bare basics and cursory knowledge of the Human World, she had absolutely nothing. The mission Mundus had given her was gone, and his punishment resulting with her death was another good enough reason for her to leave the Demon World. Dante's words that "devils never cry" had given her some comfort, yet she still felt adrift in the past two weeks of staying with Sláine. (Except when he had to go help Dante and Lady deliver their new nestling - Cato - just a few days ago, leaving Trish alone with what had to be the fluffiest and most demanding feline she had encountered so far.)_  
  
_And then that explosion from Lady at Dante wanting to add Trish to his family records..._  
  
_What reason for such a thing? Adoption? As his sister? As in him accepting her as a nestmate, even though she only shared the face of his mother, and not of his blood? That felt more like a reward than a punishment, if Lady's reaction was anything to go by._  
  
_Really, what ulterior motive did he had?_  
  
_Why?_  
  
_As if echoing her inner turmoil, Lady looked up at Dante, far calmer. "Why adoption?"_  
  
_"My way on getting over with that dumb life-debt thing devils get hung up on. Not gonna ask her to turn herself into a Devil Arm, nor am I keen on the whole subordinate thing. I get enough of that from some of our Devil Arms."_  
  
_Oh._  
  
_"Plus, she won't be welcomed back in the Demon World after that stunt we pulled, and I can't just leave her drifting in the wind in the Human World." His gaze drifted over to the photo frame sitting on his desk. "I think if Mother was still alive, she'd probably do the same thing."_  
  
_Why did her chest feel tight all of a sudden?_  
  
_"I mean, yeah, all those forms is gonna be a pain, not to mention all the processing fees and wait times, and the back channels we'd have to go through, but... I think it's worth it."_  
  
_Lady simply shook her head, but didn't stop the small smile from growing. "Only you, Dante. What about you, Nero? What do you think?"_  
  
_"Another kickass aunt?" Nero tilted his head to the side, thinking for a moment before grinning. "Cool."_  
  
_Sláine simply held up his hands at Dante's questioning glance. "I don't see any real downsides to this proposal."_  
  
_Why was her face wet again, and what was that warm emotion blooming in her chest just now?_  
  
_Whatever it was, as she scrubbed her face and tried to assuage the others' concerned questions, Trish rather liked that warmth._  
  
_Maybe living in the Human World wouldn't be so bad after all._  
  
-3-1-2-4-5-  
  
Sláine hadn't been exaggerating about the sheer amount of paperwork, nor was Dante on mentioning the wait times. (Some forms were _still_ being processed.) Even though a majority of the general human population didn't quite believe in devils and demons, in spite of the presence of hunters and exorcists and other similar groups, various agencies within the governments seemingly took their childhood stories seriously.  
  
Apparently, there was a small population of devils that wanted to live in the Human World quietly. Some did so out of curiosity, what with the legend of Sparda siding with humanity, while most did so because they'd rather much preferred to living without having to be worried of being turned into another devil's next meal or being forcibly subjugated. No one could really object to the latter reason.  
  
The "back channels" Dante had mentioned were the shadowy agencies created decades ago on setting up identities for devils so they could actually live in the Human World, ranging from mundane interviews with agents, to the more magical versions on making sure there were no mental traps, academic questioning, and health examinations. From what Trish had read up on the many information packets, the applying devil would be under supervision of the sponsoring person for several years, and thus she found herself living at Devil May Cry, learning "how to human" as Nero joked.  
  
(Obviously, that wasn't getting into cases of devils living in the Human World _without_ the proper papers, but that was a whole different carcass none of them really wanted to get into. Bad enough some of those tended to get into the nastier side of things frequently after slipping through the cracks between both realms.)  
  
It was a lot harder than Trish thought. She had to publicly stop referring Lady and Dante as "mates", which resulted in one very hasty excuse when she had slipped up that one time. She would occasionally still use "nestling" when referring to Nero and Cato, causing more hasty excuses to any human that might've overheard and questioned them. She had to remember to modulate her strength and be careful with her electrical abilities, Nevan not holding back on teaching both her and Alastor proper control. Sure, she felt that she was improving a bit, and yet even after a little over three years, parts of the Human World would still overwhelm her.  
  
Another shriek from the children, this time one she recognized as pain. Electric blue eyes promptly locked on to the source, that from the lone white-haired boy at the base of the slide. If it wasn't for the presence of other humans, she would've electrically jumped to the spot, instead forcing herself to run fast but not too fast.  
  
"Cato, what's wrong?"  
  
Another whimper, and a reluctant showing to her of his skinned knee that had some minor bleeding.  
  
Outwardly, she simply hummed. Inwardly, Trish was trying not to panic, hoping that she wouldn't have to face an angry Lady or Dante in over-protective-parent mode. Mostly it had to do with the fact of Sláine doing a lot of convincing to allow Trish to watch over Cato, what with Nero having to attend school, and both of them receiving the occasional job that'd required extra firepower. Today was the first time she'd been watching over Cato without any other supervision. (Not that Trish could really blame either of them - Dante's devil-influenced parental instincts was self-explanatory, and she already had enough hints about their history.)  
  
If they were in the Demon World, Trish would've told Cato to ignore it and let his devil healing take care of the injury.  
  
Here in the Human World, Cato was mostly human with as-of-yet unawakened demon blood, she was learning how to live as a human, and there were humans present now looking over in concern.  
  
What did Lady and Dante do when their younger nestling injured himself, especially his knees?  
  
Fumbling through her pockets, Trish successfully fished out a band-aid that was in the vest she was borrowing, and carefully stuck the brightly colored object on after wiping away the blood (the wound was already starting to heal). Bright cyan eyes tearfully looked up at her, Cato still sniffling a bit.  
  
Trish wracked her mind, trying to remember what else the pair did after addressing the injury.  
  
Feeling almost silly, she quickly kissed above the fabric bandage before pulling back. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the relieved smiles on the other adults before they turned away, and internally sighed in relief as Cato's sniffles died down. She did quirk an eyebrow when he raised his arms up towards her. Intrigued, the electric she-devil carefully picked the nestli- child up. "Yes?"  
  
That warm feeling in her chest returned when Cato trustingly wrapped his arms around her neck and nuzzled her. "Thank you, Awntie Twish."  
  
If Dante's showing of affection that he regularly showered Lady and the boys with was foreign to Trish, Cato's utter trust completely mystified her, and she still didn't understand _why_ she was given it.  
  
Lady didn't comment about the hastily wiped tear tracks on Trish's face, nor how red her eyes had to be when the human huntress came to pick them up. Rather, a small half-smile and a reassuring shoulder squeeze before getting into the car, letting Cato's happy chatting of playing at the park wash over them on the drive back home.

**Author's Note:**

> [Filiation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filiation) is the legal term on recognizing the legal status of the relationship between family members, although it usually applies to the relationship between parent and child in most places.
> 
> Re-posting this separately so that it'll be easier on myself to keep track. Day 26 from Smootch-tober 2018, "kiss on the knee" in "[Bouquet of Calendula](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16173560/chapters/45041971)".


End file.
